Our Earth Is A Result Of Two Planets Fused Together, New Research Suggests

2/06/2016

Share it:

Astronomers studying how the Moon may have formed,
have found proof that it was produced after a minor planet crashed into Earth about
4.5 billion years ago. And research proposes that this crash was so fierce that
the 'planetary embryo' that hit Earth, called Theia, ultimately ended up fusing
with both Earth and the Moon as a consequence. This particular theory that the
Moon was formed as part of a Solar System crash isn't something new at all, but
researchers in the past have suggested that Theia basically side-swiped Earth, slating
the Moon into orbit and then continuing off into space.

Now a new research by a group of astronomers at
the University of California, Los Angeles, proposes that Theia actually never left us. In order to figure this out, astronomers analyzed seven lunar rocks transported
back to Earth by the Apollo missions, along with six volcanic rocks from
Earth's mantle. Scientists were looking into which oxygen isotopes the rocks enclosed
- which essentially means they were counting the number of protons and neutrons
in oxygen atoms found in those rocks. That's significant, as the rocks on each
planetary body in our Solar System has a sole 'fingerprint' ratio of oxygen
isotopes, that can be used to figure out where they truly came from.

For example, over 99.9 percent of Earth's oxygen
is O-16, which signifies that each atom contains eight protons and eight
neutrons. But there are also slight amounts of O-17 and O-18 on Earth. And it's
the ratio amid O-16 and O-17 that researchers can use to figure out where rocks
- and several other substances - have come from.

If Theia only side-swiped Earth and formed the
Moon, the Moon would be made up mostly of Theia, and Earth and Moon rocks would
have unlike oxygen isotope ratios. But what astronomers found something
different.

Instead, the answers back up a theory suggested back
in 2012, according to which Theia and Earth were really involved in a head-on crash,
instead of a side-swipe, and eventually ended up fusing together as a result.

Our knowledge about Theia is not enough - Edward Young and his group consider that the planetary embryo was alike in size to
Earth, although others believe it was nearer to Mars.

But Edward Young clarifies that there's proof that
Theia was growing, and if it had lived after the crash, it would have turn out
to be a planet in its own right.

If confirmed, the study which has been issued in
Science, will modify our understanding of how our planet formed and developed.

It might also deliver some understanding about
where our water came from - a head-on crash with Theia would have most likely exposed
any water from Earth. If this is actual case, it may have only been carried
back by small asteroid impacts tens of millions of years later.

Although it's pretty sad to think about our planet
destroying another one in order to get where we actually are today, it's mesmerizing
to ponder about all the accidents that had to happen to result in life on
Earth.